Dramatic raids across Northolt lead to four arrests

Armed police, backed up by uniformed officers, took aim, blowing out the tyres of a potential getaway car in Yeading lane.

The raid was one of three carried out across Northolt throughout the day on Thursday which saw four people arrested
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A 75-year-old who asked not to be named was walking past when the drama unfolded at about 5.30pm.

He said: "There was a group of about seven blokes outside the Co-op near the White Hart Roundabout, they looked like they could've been trouble,

"Two went into the shop as I walked past and as I got about 50 yards down the road I heard three gunshots, I thought they were fireworks at first.

"I turned around and about twenty police arrived, some in plain clothes with yellow caps. They turned up so quickly, they must've been following them.

"Then they took two blokes away, each in a separate police van, as well as a Volvo they were standing by.

"I think I'm going to be more careful when I'm walking around here now, that was a close shave."

A police spokesman said the armed police fired specialist cartridges, called hatton rounds, from their shotguns. They are made of lead and disintegrate on impact so there is no danger of unwanted injuries happening through ricochets.

Addresses in Kingshill Avenue and Meridian Court, on the boarder of Hayes were also raided, £3,500 cash and drugs were seized at some of the sites.

Paul Metten, 35, and Louise Whiting, 27, both of Meridian Court, Edwin Kapoor, 35, of Westbury Avenue, Southall, and Raja Rai, 37, of North Road, Richmond, have all been charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine.

They will appear at Kingston Crown Court on December 16.